Honorable Henry R. Luce Publisher Time & Life Magazine Time & Life Building New York, New York

My dear Henry:

Well, we had a great and glorious trip with you and your wonderful wife in Italy. I was so glad and so thankful, as I told that great audience that I spoke to that day in Rome, that we had two Ambassadors instead of one. Of course, I have known our great Ambassador there, Lady Luce, for a long, long time, as we served together in the Congress of the United States, where she did such an outstanding job.

I wrote the President and I wrote Secretary Dulles, and I sent Lady Luce copies of same, and of course, I thought you would be there and would see them. I know how much help you have been there; I know about you and your great ability and your success. Success doesn't come accidentally to anybody. It might; I don't know; but if it does, it doesn't stay long; and you have been successful, not only in your business and not only as a great American, but with your family and with everything that you have undertaken; and I know the Great Good One must have His hand on your shoulder.

Now, my reason for writing you is this. It is very, very early in the morning, and I was reading a copy of a letter I wrote to one of our men in the American Embassy at Paris - a Mr. Homer Lanford - thanking him, although I was a little late, for the many courtesies that he and the group there showed us. Of course, nobody could have done better than Ambassador Luce and you and those fine people in Italy did, as far as my Committee and I were concerned. I tried to tell them the truth that day, but I see I am criticized very, very severely for boosting Ambassador Luce and for boosting President Eisenhower. I am so glad I did it, and I will do it again. Of course, I am a Democrat, but I am an American first. I wish everybody could know that the Democrats, including our great leader, Sam Rayburn, voted 68 percent of the time, and I think our great friends, the Republicans, only voted 54 percent of the time with the Administration. You know what a fine leader and a wonderful public servant Speaker Sam Rayburn is. I believe he has served longer as Speaker of the House of Representatives than any other living or dead man - even longer than Henry Clay.

Then, we have another great leader there - Joe Martin, who has been Speaker twice, since I have been there, and I have been there a long time. I am the Dean of the Alabama Delegation. When this term is finished I will have been there 22 long years, where we have worked hard, and I believe, since Bob Doughton has gone to his Reward in Heaven, that I am the first man in the Congress of the United States practically every day, although that little human dynamo, Clarence Cannon, comes slipping into the Capitol about daybreak many, many mornings.

As I started to say, I wrote Mr. Homer Lanford on Oct. 10 and told him I was sure that the same thing that happened to President Eisenhower was going to happen to that great leader and that great statesman, Sir Anthony Eden. I had a long talk with him - my Committee and I - when we were in London. I never saw eyes as tired, and the next day, as I told my friend, Tom King, he was riding jet planes with the soldier boys - just young fellows that could rest all night. There he was, out under the haystacks with them; and the next day, I see, he was to go to Scotland to do some fantastic things - all of which I thought was unnecessary. I could be wrong. But I believe we have got to conserve the energy of these great leaders and these great men.

I will just send you a copy of the letter I have just dictated to my old life-long friend and hunting partner, Tom C. King, of Anniston, Ala., as I have covered it with him. Tom King ran for Congress, but was not elected because he told them that he thought many of the things that we were doing were not right, and it seems that sometimes some of us don't like to hear the proper things. I thought maybe you, with your great brain and ability, with your great writers, could say some of the things that maybe these statesmen and these leaders should not be doing. I think they should do just the necessary things, but it seems, in order to get elected, you have to do so many of these other things. Of course, in the days gone by, I doubt if they had to do that. Something must be done about it.

I knew that Chancellor Adenauer, as I have told Tom King in my letter, was going to break under the strain. I sat with him several months ago, talking to him about peace, with many fine men. Allen Dulles was there; also Homer Gruenther, Special Assistant at the White House, who sat on my right; and we were all talking about war. This was about six months ago. And then when I told him it was peace we ought to try to think about, I never saw a man brighten up as much as Chancellor Adenauer. Some of the Ambassadors there - I think it was former Ambassador Davies - thought that the Chancellor looked tired and that we should not talk as frankly as I was talking, but the Chancellor stayed there and we did go over it pretty thoroughly.

I have been writing his leaders and his representatives in Washington. I think he has there one of the greatest Ambassadors that we have in the country. He is at least half as good as your wonderful wife and my dear friend, Ambassador Luce.

Well, I see by the morning paper, and it is not daybreak yet, but this old Mobile Register gets to us at five o'clock in the morning, that Chancellor Adenauer was stricken. Of course, our great President is stricken. I talked to them out in Denver the Sunday after it happened. Of course, I think President Eisenhower should leave Denver. That high altitude is not good for your heart. Had he not been there, I don't believe it would have happened. Of course, I don't see why that great doctor - and he is great - General Snyder, let the President play 27 holes of golf in that hot sun and in that high altitude, but maybe he is like you, or maybe he is like Chancellor Adenauer; maybe he is like Anthony Eden, or maybe he is like some of the rest of us - he won't listen, but he ought to before it is too late. I think we ought to conserve our energy. Of course, I personally can't do it, and I just have to get up and go. My wife and I had coffee at four o'clock this morning.

Anyway, Adenauer has been stricken, and I am afraid Anthony Eden will break, and break soon, and something should be done to stop it. As soon as I finish dictating this letter to you, I am going to write him a long letter. I am going to send him a copy of my letter to my friend in Paris - Homer Lanford - and show him that I was sure that Anthony Eden and Chancellor Adenauer would be stricken; and I want to tell you, I think you ought to make Mrs. Luce slow down. She is working too hard. Anyway, I am so glad that we got to see so much of that country, but everything I compare with our great country. All of the young people in all of these countries want to come to the United States. Well, I believe everything is all right over there. Everybody has as many jobs as they want, but so many of them don't want any.

I thought England was doing pretty good, except for their coal business, but there certainly are plenty of jobs there, and I am afraid that some of the men are running from one to the other. I regret that England would not allow 20,000 of the Italians to come in there and mine coal, because England will have to bring it clear across the sea, and it looks like it is just too bad, but I imagine it will straighten out; I hope so.

Anyway, we should save Anthony Eden now. I believe Mrs. Luce could do a lot on it. Of course, I will send her a copy of this letter by Air Mail to Rome. Something should certainly be done to save the leaders of this world. Something should be done to save the leaders of Canada, of Mexico, of all of Europe. I imagine that is what killed Stalin - this great strain. Think of the Admirals and the Generals, the leaders in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. I don't see why it hasn't gotten General Twining. I don't see how on earth Secretary Dulles has stood it. I have been looking to hear the same thing about him, and if he doesn't slow down, it may happen before you receive this letter. But I believe you are the one to put on the campaign on this thing. I believe, with all of your other many duties, you can do this.

I hope and pray that the Great Good One will give you and your wonderful, lovely, charming, brilliant wife the strength to keep on keeping on, as you have been doing. I do hope you will take care of yourself, as we have to have good men. As I said to somebody in a letter this morning, one of the great poems is entitled "God Give Us Men," and I do think we should have another one, as I have mentioned and just thought of this morning - "God Give Us Men and Women." He has done that in your wonderful wife and many other great women that are serving and doing such great work; but there is so much to be done, and I believe we are going to have peace on earth and plenty, and I am very, very thankful for that. I am thankful that we have you and your wonderful wife to help us in these trying times.